The US Department of Defense now sees the Ukrainian military outnumbering the Russian armed forces in armored vehicles. Largely due to supplies from abroad, Ukraine now has more working tanks than Russia, a Pentagon official said.
But what also contributes to this superiority: military equipment that the Ukrainians get hold of after fighting. For weeks there have been reports on social networks of Russian tanks being captured by Ukrainian troops.
[Alle aktuellen Nachrichten zum russischen Angriff auf die Ukraine bekommen Sie mit der Tagesspiegel-App live auf ihr Handy. Hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen]
For example, a user who claims to be a Canadian mercenary in action for Ukraine near Cherson reports on Twitter of capturing a Russian tank. He comments on the accompanying video sarcastically: “We got more working tanks from Putin than from Olaf Scholz.”
How many Russian tanks are now being used by Ukrainians cannot be said with certainty. The military blog Oryx compiles indications of the extent of the conquest of war equipment.
As of Thursday evening, Russian troops have lost at least 481 tanks, with 269 said to have been destroyed and 212 captured by Ukrainian units. On the Ukrainian side, 52 tanks are said to have been destroyed and 73 passed into Russian control.
Oryx bases its count on verified and geolocated photos and videos on social networks. The figures are not independently verifiable and are likely to be lower than actual values on both sides.
Like many of the Russian tanks, the equipment that Western countries are supplying to Ukraine is of Soviet design. In his statement, the Pentagon representative explicitly mentioned the Czech Republic as one of the arms exporting countries. According to reports, the Czech Republic has delivered dozens of Soviet-designed T-72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine or is preparing to export them.
More on the Ukraine war on Tagesspiegel Plus:
The country has not officially commented on the nature of its arms deliveries. “The Czech Republic is ready to send more military equipment to Ukraine,” Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said at a meeting with US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington on Thursday.
On Thursday it became known that Germany also wants to indirectly participate in tank deliveries to Ukraine. According to Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), the federal government is preparing a ring exchange for heavy weapons.
[Lesen Sie zudem: Das Waffenarsenal für die Ukraine – und Deutschlands Mini-Beitrag (T+)]
According to reports, the NATO partner Slovenia is to hand over a large number of its T-72 main battle tanks to the Ukraine and receive the Marder infantry fighting vehicle and the Fuchs wheeled armored vehicle from Germany in return. The federal government has so far been accused of hesitation and lack of clarity on the subject of arms deliveries to Ukraine.
US significantly increases military aid to Ukraine
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden also announced a new massive package of arms sales to Ukraine. Accordingly, the United States wants to deliver more weapons and ammunition worth up to 800 million dollars (around 736 million euros), including artillery and drones. The US has pledged or delivered arms worth more than $3.3 billion to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war of aggression.
According to the Pentagon official, Russia has continued to increase its armed forces as part of its eastern offensive. Accordingly, three more tactical battalion groups (BTG) have been added since Wednesday. This brought the total number of these Russian units in Ukraine back up to 85. Twelve of them were deployed in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol. According to reports, Russia had amassed 120 battalions at the start of its invasion of Ukraine. (Tsp)
